President Obama’s criticism of Prime Minister Netanyahu – on the eve of the January 22, 2013 Israeli election - underlines the secondary role played by the Palestinian issue in shaping US-Israel strategic cooperation.

The US Senate vote on the nomination of John Brennan and Chuck Hagel to the positions of CIA Director and Defense Secretary, respectively, will shape the US war on Islamic terrorism and the US determination to avert the wrath of a nuclear Iran.

The late Senator Daniel Inouye, Chairman of the Appropriations Committee and President Pro Tempore (third in the line of succession to the presidency) was the most effective architect-ever of mutually-beneficial US-Israel strategic cooperation.